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MLA '20: Make Your Case to Attend (Virtually!)

Build your case to attend the MLA '20 vConference by focusing on the benefits of your attendance at online sessions, such as:

  • Program Sessions 
  • Latest trends in technology
  • Best practices in service
  • Effective leadership techniques
  • Greater confidence and increased competencies
  • Ways to enhance intellectual growth
  • Ideas to improve services at your library
  • New, innovative resources for efficiency and cost savings

Demonstrate your commitment and service to the association. Are you:

  • Presenting a paper or poster
  • Serving as a speaker or moderator
  • Volunteering on a committee or in a caucus
  • Serving as an officer of the association, a committee, or caucus
  • Serving on the editorial board for an MLA publication
  • Serving on a task force
  • Working with a new initiative or volunteering with MLA planning committees
  • Sharing the results of your work with your colleagues
  • Networking, benchmarking, and sharing ideas with fellow librarians
  • Getting involved in research or collaborative efforts for association improvement

 Emphasize the benefits to your institution; such as:

  • The opportunity for you to be the first librarian from your institution to attend an MLA meeting
  • The publicity that your institution will receive from you presenting a paper or poster
  • The advantage of your ability to compare vendor products and services to make effective purchase decisions
  • The opportunity for your professional development, which improves your competence and capacity building
  • The opportunity for you to explore ideas, learn new skills, and translate these skills into tangible training at your organization
  • The return-on-investment that your institution will receive from your attendance

Need help convincing your boss to let you attend MLA '20 vConference & Exihibits?

Use the Make Your Case Worksheet to develop your evidence-based talking points.

Communication phrases you can use for non-library bosses might include:

  • My challenges include achieving a balance between print and digital resources, selecting the best evidenced-based resources, and maintaining the most cost-effective library operations possible.

  • To be effective, I need to be in tune with the latest trends in library management and in sync with disruptive technologies that will affect future library decisions.

  • MLA ’20 vConference is the one meeting that I consider absolutely essential to my professional development. My role as a health sciences librarian is to ensure that all of the health professionals in our organization have access to information at the point of need.

  • Attending MLA '20 vConference will help me build quality, knowledge-based skills by exposing me to new ideas, best practices, and lessons learned. I will also have the opportunity to be introduced to experts in the field and to other colleagues in my field.

  • I’m confident that I’ll be able to share what I’ll learn with our full library team in a meaningful way and gain hands-on experience with new information, products, and services.

  • If you give me the go-ahead—and I sincerely hope you will—you can expect me to return from the MLA '20 vConference with loads of practical ideas that I can put to work right away.

  • Please let me know if you would like additional information, or visit the Medical Library Association website at www.mlanet.org for details about my professional organization and its activities.

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Experience Timeline

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Schedule (subject to change)

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MLA '20 Posts

Thank You, MLA ’20 Sponsors


MLA ’20 vConference New Member/First-Time Attendees Book Recommendations


Fourth Annual MLA Book Recommendations: MLA ’20 vConference


Attending the MLA ’20 vConference? Watch Paper and Lightning Talks before August 10!